Whimsy Paper Mache Links/paper macheing, how to's, ideals

How to Make a Giant Juicy Paper Mache Strawberry

Effortless Strawberry to Hang on Your
Wall

We will show you how to use
recycled newspaper to make a giant juicy paper mache Strawberry to hang.

This paper mache
project is easy, cheap, and great for someone wanting to learn the awesome art
of paper mache.

We hope to be a spring board to get you started and
encourage you to tweak, change the giant wall Strawberry up all you want.

Stuff List

Recycled
Newspaper

Plastic
bag

Masking
Tape

Paper
Mache Paste

Paints
and Paint Brushes

Paper
Clay (Optional)

Minwax
Varnish

H20
and Rags

Steps to Make
Your Strawberry Sculpture

1 Build Your Strawberry Armature

Begin by cutting an outline of your strawberry onto
cardboard, basically a heart shape with a stem. Set this aside.

Wade and crumple up sheets of newspaper, glue them
into place on top of your cardboard outline. Continue to wade up the newspaper
and building up the shape of your strawberry, creating a nice fat juicy
strawberry.

Slide your Strawberry shape with your newspaper in
place into a plastic bag and tape off tight. Use your masking tape to define the
shape of your strawberry.

Leaf: To form the leaves of cut cardboard into the
shape you like and slide onto your strawberry close to the stem. Use tape to
hold into place. We used wire to give our leaves support.

This is your basic strawberry armature; change it up
to be uniquely yours.

2
Paper Mache and Paper Clay

1st Session

Cover the Strawberry
armature with 3 layers of newspaper using your hands soaked in paper mache
paste. Ready your recycled paper by ripping the paper into strips of say 3 to 4
inches. Lay your newspaper strips flat onto your Strawberry armature and work
out all air bubbles. As you continue to apply layers of paper onto your armature
your Strawberry will begin to take shape. Never give up you can do this.

Once you have covered
your Strawberry with paper mache they must completely dry.
Lay them out in the sun if you can for faster drying, they will take at least
24 hours to dry depending on the size of your Strawberry.

Paper Clay or
Paper Mache

You Choose

2nd
Session

For this session you
have two choices; paper clay or paper mache. Both mediums are wonderful and
will render a perfect Strawberry sculpture. The 2 best benefits to using the
paper clay vs. paper mache are time and toughness. Both recipes are below.

We will walk through
both paper mache and paper clay finishing process.

Paper
Mache: Cover
with 4 to 5 more layers of paper mache all at one time. Let it completely dry
before moving on. If you're Strawberry does not seem tough enough add more
paper mache (see step 1).

After each session of
paper mache your sculpture must completely dry before moving to your next step.
Awesome, guys get excited to see your Strawberry take
shape.

Paper Mache Paste
Recipe: http://goo.gl/BH5lgM

Paper Clay:Cover
the entire Strawberry with about 1/4 to 1/2 inch layer of paper clay, doing one
side at a time and letting that completely dry. Apply the homemade paper clay with
your hands and smooth with paper mache paste, butter knife, etc. You can let
your paper clay dry for about 6 or more hours and then smooth more with paste.

The
size of your Strawberry will determine how long it will take to dry. A large Strawberry
will take approximately 3 to 4 days to dry, the paper clay takes longer to dry
than you think so don't rush it, wait an extra day before painting for caution.

Now
it's time to let your strawberry dry completely in the sun or in front of the
fan for 2 to 3 days. It is important that it completely dries before moving on.

Answer: Yes, yes you can if your armature can support
the weight of the paper clay without the support of the paper mache strips and
paste.

If you need once the Strawberry has dried you can
lightly sand with sandpaper and wipe off before painting.

3 Paint
Your Strawberry Sculpture

Paint a white coat of primer paint on your Strawberry
giving you a white canvas for painting. We use white flat interior house paint
to prime the surface our sculptures.

Once the primer coat as dried paint with acrylics
anyway you like. I begin with the darkest color and work my way to the lightest
color shade. Color is fun and you can't mess up, anything goes.

Let all you paint completely dry before sealing with
varnish.

4 Varnishing (Protecting)

You
must seal your paper mache pieces with varnish for protection against moisture.
Brush on 3 to 4 coats of varnish and let it completely dry. We use Polycrylic
Minwax at the studio to varnish all our art, we like how the gloss enhances our
paint job. Follow the instructions on your varnish to apply.

Strawberry
Wrap Up

This is just one way to make a juicy giant Strawberry
sculpture, hope you will create your own paper mache sculpture and share with
the studio.

Thank you for stopping by the studio please
subscribe before you leave; have a great day.

Thank you for your tip to support the studio
allowing us to provide more free paper mache workshops.